The US online poker industry is still reeling from the fallout of Black Friday and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The 2006 UIGEA essentially shut down the operations of unregulated sites offering games in the US for a time.

Since then, a few states have since managed to build regulated online poker industries from the ground up, but progress has been slow. In each case, the markets have initially been ring-fenced before expanding via multi-state agreements.

What started as a two-state online poker compact has recently expanded to three with the addition of New Jersey. What’s more, Pennsylvania recently legalized iPoker, and it’s expected to make it a four-way alliance in due time.

Here’s what you need to know about of Multi-State online poker in the US:

Nevada and Delaware join forces for online poker

Delaware was the first state to legalize online poker in 2012, and Nevada followed shortly thereafter. The two marketplaces began independent of one another.

In March 2015, though, the state’s governorssigned a deal to share online poker liquidity. State revenue was to be retained based on the players’ location, but everyone would be playing in the same pool. The Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement was the first of its kind in the US.

Although it didn’t really affect either state’s revenue, it did establish the framework for further interstate expansion.

Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement

During the legislative process, Delaware positioned itself as a hub for interstate gaming. Partnering with other states was always going to be a necessity for a state of less than a million residents.

As part of the agreement with Nevada, the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association was established within Delaware.

The MSIGA created a uniform set of rules and the system for governance of them. It has open membership, and each state that joins is given one seat on the group’s board.

At the time of its inception, the Association had two members.

New Jersey online poker joins interstate agreement

New Jersey also legalized online gambling in 2013, becoming the third state to do so.

It was also the largest, about three times as large as Nevada. As such, it had enough liquidity to (mostly) support an industry with a handful of licensees. Online poker has not grown quickly as the honeymoon phase has worn off, though.

This April, WSOP announced plans to launch its multistate platforms on May 1. The pooling went live a day early, on April 30, 2018. As anticipated, the timing will allow NJ players to compete in four online bracelet events from home this year. It’s no guarantee, but there’s at least the possibility that one (or more) of the summer’s bracelets will be won by a player located in NJ.

It’s too early to tell what the exact benefits will be for all three markets, but total liquidity stands to see a significant boost.

Will Pennsylvania online poker join?

Late in 2017, Pennsylvania pulled off the surprise of the year in the gaming industry and finally passed a sweeping online gambling package. The Keystone State became the fourth to legalize online poker.

There are a lot of details to iron out before anyone launches in the market, particularly on the casino side. As for online poker, though, the question on everyone’s mind is whether Pennsylvania will join the MSIGA. The state has a top-ten population, and the addition of those players would make the US iPoker market much healthier.

Regulators haven’t taken a public stance on the issue, but the expectation is that Pennsylvania will join the interstate agreement. Officials have already been working closely with New Jersey, and the gaming director says they’re going to “strike hard” with Pennsylvania.

The language of the law allows for interstate pooling as long as the servers are located in Pennsylvania. New Jersey has similar language in its own regulations.

New Jersey eyeing national, international markets

Lesniak aimed to repeal the portion of New Jersey’s gaming code that requires servers to be located in Atlantic City. By removing that roadblock, the state would be in a position to partner with out-of-state and international operators. Essentially, it could open the world back up for online poker players in New Jersey.

Unfortunately, Lesniak retired at the end of the 2017 legislative session without the bill gaining any movement.